The Exchange
by Galdr
Summary: "Okay, so either he was dead, a wandering spirit or some other. But how'd the heck did he wind up here, accidentally taking over someone's life? Poor, poor Yuri." Humor/Friendship centered. This story will get random updates. Enjoy! (Warning: Spoilers!)


**a.**

A young man, around his early twenties, stared at the nothingness that was his newest location. He had back length black hair that had a tint of purple to it, and he was mostly garbed in black clothes, with his vest halfway open to expose some skin of his. Upon his feet, he wore tan colored boots that matched some curvy designs on his vest. The man's skin was a fair complexion, and his dark eyes were actually a grey color. This individual's name was none other than Yuri Lowell, a Brave Vesperia guildsman. Right now, he was currently observing his surroundings and memories. Well, the memories he could remember.

For one, he recalled heading to Tarqaron with his friends to stop the Adephagos. He remembered their confrontation with Duke Pantarei. He and his friends fought the man, but... everything after that was a blank. No, it was more like a blur. He couldn't remember anything further than that. What the hell happened? Knowing that thinking about it would get him nowhere fast, Yuri decided to observe his surroundings. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the new location. As they cleared up, slowly and surely, he couldn't help but be taken slightly aback. Wherever he was, it was some kind of prison! Okay, this was unexpected. Did they lose to Duke and he threw him in some kind of jail? No... The guy wouldn't have gone the extra mile to do that. Yuri knew that for some reason—namely since he didn't _seem_ like the type.

Then again, it was always the quiet ones that did loopy crap anyway.

No matter how many scenarios ran through his mind, Yuri wasn't able to come up with an answer or plausible reason for being here. His friends were nowhere around either now that he noticed. Where were they? Where was he? Were they all right? ' _Of course they are,_ ' he chided himself mentally, ' _They're tougher than the finest steel. But, I can't help but worry anyway. They better be all right or someone's ass is going to be kicked._ ' Minding out of his thoughts, he decided to take a better look around.

The place looked like an old, beat up sewer of sorts. The ground beneath him was covered in ankle deep water that surely wasn't sanitary, and the prison bars were silver in color. They seemed to stretch vertically upwards forever—Yuri couldn't see the ceiling of this place at all. It seemed to stretch on forever. Although, he could see they ended up against the sewer walls on either sides and of course on the ground where they were embedded into. The water seemed to also go on forever. The dark-haired man didn't mind it much. Traversing through sewers was common for him considering what he'd done in the beginning of his odd journey through Terca Lumireis. Rather than trying to figure where the hell he was, it was best trying to figure out how the hell he was going to get out. The simplest solution, however, lied between the jail's bars.

"Well, best try something or nothing will happen," he said to himself and proceeded to walk towards the prison bars. When he reached them, he immediately noticed the space between the bars were larger than he expected; it was more than big enough for him to squeeze through with ample space for his elbows outspread. "Well, if they wanted to lock me up, they'd have to do better than that," Yuri started, a smirk on his face. However, he paused when his mind started working again. Huh, this seemed a little bit _too_ easy. Raven would normally tell him to "watch out for traps" of the sorts, right along with Estelle gently telling him to be careful. Right. So, before he thought to simply walk out of here scott-free, Yuri warily stretched his right arm forward and through a space between the bars. He waited for some trap to spring up but—nothing. Carefully, he slid his arm out further to the other side. Still nothing.

All right, so far so good.

Still wary, Yuri continued pushing his arm out until his shoulder was outside the barrier. With nothing coming to hurt or disable him this far, the swordsman deemed it safe enough for him to fully waltz through. He would soon realize that would be one of his fatal mistakes and kick himself later for that.

Yuri didn't even get his boot through the space between the bars when a sudden influx of something—Aer?—overwhelmed him and forcefully flung him backward. He barely had time to regulate himself; he skidded on the ground like a bouncing ball before whirling around to his feet, stunned. What. The. Hell. Okay, _maybe_ this place was 'booby trapped' after all.

"The freak?" He muttered out, blinking in total disbelief. What the hell was that-?

As if something was responding to his mumbled, discombobulated bewilderment a second ago, some random pain slammed into his mind! Yuri reacted like anyone would who was suddenly forced into severe, mental head trauma; he wailed out. Well, more like grunted and then started leaning up against the silver bars of his strange imprisonment. The black-haired Terca Lumirien—is that even a word? This was describing him after all—clutched his head tighter than a monkey did a banana. Because we all know monkeys love bananas! What a cliché stereotype! So basically as we sit here and babble on and laugh at Yuri's misery, he began to cringe, shudder and curse the idiot who was doing this to him.

Because it wasn't every day this happens to him. It's not like he said, "Hey forces of nature out there. How about you give me a headache that'd kill any other man for an hour?"

As he, unfortunately, continued to gripe about his random headache from space, a sudden influx of images invaded his mind. The man winced as thousands of images ran through his mind like a movie. Well, as if someone put the movie on fast-forward and forced him to watch from a first-person view. The first memory started off with him sitting around with eight, giant ass creatures he'd never seen before. It went by in a swift breeze, but he caught onto what was in it.

One to his right looked like some giant ass raccoon with one tail, followed by some blue cat thing with two tails and a bad case of heterochromia; the third one was some freaky looking turtle with three tails, and the fourth one beside that one looked like some red monkey with four tails. The heck? The fifth critter looked like a weird combination of some dolphin and horse with five tails—what the heck was a dolphin anyway? He'd never seen one but somehow knew it. Why? The sixth creature looked like a sad looking slug with six tails predictably. The seventh one looked like a massive bug he wanted to immediately stomp on and crush.

No, it totally had nothing to do with his childhood fears of bugs. Especially the flying kinds that could get in your face faster than you can run from them.

The last and final of these giant ass critters was a hybrid cross of an ox and pig with eight tails, that was sitting beside... him? Oh, wait. There weren't eight of them. There were nine, counting him. He was an orange-red looking fox with human-like paws and nine tails. Cool. Wait, no! He _wasn't_ a fox! He was Yuri freaking Lowell, a human being that kicks major ass and hands them back to people to anyone without care. Well, a bit of that is a lie—sometimes he does care if it's within reason. Like, if it's to help Captain Karol or Estelle... But that was for another time. Why the hell is he a fox?!

They were in the center of some room with a man in robes standing in the center. What was he, some priest preaching about something stupid? No? He was talking to them. World? Destiny? Something? Whatever he was saying, it made little sense! Before he could understand what was going on, other images starting flashing through his mind, once more forcing him into the whirlwind of chaos.

He soon saw himself—at least, the large fox thing—was older, bigger, and taller, and nonchalantly fighting these two people who looked suspiciously like ninjas. They challenged him and failed because he ate them. Okay, gross. He could admit to being a connoisseur of sorts, sure, but he'd never try to dine on people as a food source. He wasn't that desperate, right? Yuri felt his stomach grumble at that particular image, and he was sure it wasn't due to hunger pains either. The brothers—whoever those two ninjas were—escaped in the most disgusting way ever and the black-haired man thought to not repeat that particular image ever again. Creepy ass ninjas.

The next flash of images soared by too quick, although he picked up on another one as he was still clutching his head. In fact, he wasn't aware his body just dropped into the sewage water and started shifting about.

This new image presented him to this guy wearing some old fashioned red armor that would make Flynn snicker at its ridiculousness, long black hair and had some large fan on his back. It wasn't those blastia powered fans but it was a fan weapon. The guy looked like he wanted to fight. Yuri had to fight back a scoff. As if this guy could hurt him with a measly little fan. What was he gonna do, give him a papercut? Crap hit the fan though as the next minute Yuri was staring into that guy's eyes. It flashed red with some strange patterns into it before he blacked out. Some name in that... Shary-gun? No, Shar _in_ gan. Deadly, can induce some illusions and mind warping crap on a victim. Okay, gotcha. Avoid those at all costs. Those made him remember that bastard Alexei and what he did with Estelle... If only he could revive that man and kill him again.

That black haired man's name was Madera Uchiba? Or was it Madra Uchiwa? Madara? Yeah, that! And Uchi-something—whatever. He was someone one Yuri's to-kill list. He seemed just as bad as Ragou and Alexei combined and that pissed him off to no end.

The last set of memories had flown by; being sealed into this woman called Mito Uzumaki. The woman married a man named Hashirama Senju, head of some clan and current Hokage of Konohagakure. Whatever that meant! He was sealed into her for many, many years, even after she had grandchildren. Boy, she was tough meat. Even until her death, she kept him back. Then, during her final days, a new person was chosen to take over her role as a container for him. These people were called Jinchūriki. Yuri suddenly hated that word because of its underlying meaning. "Power of a human sacrifice." Sounded like something Duke had done...

The new girl was called Kushina Uzumaki. It was a long time until she married to this guy that looked like wild-haired Flynn with less armor. Then crap hit the fan again when Kushina, older, was having a child and some masked freak came out of nowhere and kidnapped her. Then, being extracted out of her and once again, being hypnotized by that dang Sharingan eyes! There's only one person that could have done it and it had to be that Madara Uchita guy. Yuri doesn't even care if he said it right. He was seriously going to kill that bastard when he got his hands—claws—whatever on him!

Next thing Yuri knows, he's not being mind controlled by that freak and the wild-haired Flynn alike and his wife have him trapped again. Okay, what the hell was happening? They were talking, but he wanted to get away. Yeah, that was the feeling. When he was freed, he knew he was destroying Konohagakure, and wanted to leave. Then they came along. He saw a baby with blond hair and knew they were going to seal him again. The Flynn-wannabe did some hand seals and some apparition appeared, thrusting its ghostly arm through the guy's chest and...grabbed him? No, it was _puling_ something out of him! He felt incredibly smaller and weaker after that because the ghostly hand slammed that part of him—something called his yin chakra?—into the Flynn-alike. Whoa, hold the phone! What just happened?!

Before he realized it himself, Yuri knew it. They _were_ going to seal him up again. Probably into that little kid they brought with them. Anyone who knew Yuri personally, they would know he doesn't like to feel constricted to one place. Sealing restricted movement and that meant jail time again. Oh hell no. Apparently, the fox-him-in-memory agreed to that and lashed out. Jeez man, he didn't have to stab those people! He felt awful since they were protecting their kid and probably others as well. They muttered very touching and heart-wrenching words to their little baby boy—he could tell now—and the Flynn-alike said one word that made Yuri's head spin and blackness claim him once more: Fūin. And for some reason, he translated that to "seal."

More and more images filled his mind. The entire life of the blond-haired little maggot—uh, the boy—flashing through his eyes as he watched them in fast-forward again and in first-person view. It was weird how this was happening. Were they ever going to stop?! The kid wanted to be acknowledged, wanted to be the Hokage kinda like the Flynn-almost-dude. (Yuri knew that was his dad—seriously, who else has blond hair like that?) He grew up orphaned, just like Yuri did. No one paid him any mind and the black-haired man could easily sympathize with this kid's want and need for attention in his earlier days. From the scoldings to the pranks to living alone and without friends for a long time.

' _This kid... went through some of the same crap as me,_ ' Yuri thought as he viewed the images—well, it wasn't like he couldn't say no. The only difference was that Yuri had Flynn, his only friend. But, the loneliness was still there regardless. The knights and the rich people of Zaphias treated him (and Flynn by extension) like crap like the villagers of this place did. But, this boy handled it, made friends in school—Yuri shuddered at that term—graduated and became a ninja despite all the hardships. The blond was put into a team of four with a guy named Kakashi-sensei, a pink-haired girl labeled affectionately as Sakura-chan that looked similar to Estelle (but not in attitude) and a brooding, black, duck butt haired boy named Sasuke, also known as 'the bastard' to the blond, orange-eyesore wearing kid he was sealed into.

Their last mission was a C-ranked A-mission with some missing-nin and that led to the boy using his power the first time. That had been some sad stuff there. Kid had a bridge named after him and they were entered for some Chūnin Exams a week after they returned home. There was a written part, and the Forest of Death—huh, that forest reminded him of the Quoi Woods where he and Estelle first met Karol. Ahh, just a little more intense and fiercer though.

The kid and his team passed that part of the exam, although the encounter with that weirdo did some strange seal to block off his and the kid's chakra. After all that mess with the preliminaries, the kid was assigned a new instructor called Ebisu, who helped him walk on water. Or tried to. Then came the pervert with the toads. Frogs. Whatever, they were amphibians. If Rita were here, she'd have kicked his ass to next Tuesday. Maybe to next Saturday if she was really angry. The guy even had the gall to claim himself as a "super pervert." The hell?

Yuri grumbled and rolled onto his knees as the influx of images apparently stopped there and he was allowed to breathe. He wasn't intelligent like Rita or Estelle but he had a pretty good head on his shoulders. He knew those images weren't just images—they were _memories_. Someone's memories being transferred to him, he'd wager. He was that fox thing, or bakegitsune. It was never his fault bad shit happened to him. It seemed like Duke killed him and his spirit merged with the fox thing. Maybe at the same time the fox was being sealed away for the third time? That's when things were mostly vivid to him after all. Yuri realized that sounded absolutely absurd and ridiculous but it was the only thing he could come up with. He did feel less bodily attached now that he thought about it. The former memories had a name attached to it: Kurama. That was the fox's name.

Well, technically it was _his_ name now. Or, could 'Kurama' be labeled onto the yin portion that was taken with the yellow-haired guy that seemed like Flynn those years ago? Yeah. That seemed the best idea. He was Yuri. He wasn't going to take anyone's name. He felt bad he took over someone's life. He hadn't meant to. But it wasn't like he couldn't give it back. He and the creature were one. Well...damn.

"This shit can't get any worse," he muttered to himself. He jinxed it.

"Whoa... what's this?" another voice that wasn't his said. Yuri was suddenly alert, standing up and on his toes. He backed up into the darkness, quietly, and waited on baited breath. Whoever it was appeared in the sewer—the kid's mindscape, now that he noticed—and he lowered out of his position. It was the boy himself in his eyesore of orange jumpsuit. The terrible lighting of this place didn't help much. Everything seemed really grey and dull coloring was everywhere. Honestly, couldn't anyone get in here and fix these lights? Maybe the power's just busted. Yuri's grey eyes softened as he watched the blond step up to the large gate, look up at the tag labeled "seal" and looking through the bars.

Naruto, that was the kid's name, huh?

This kid could be fun to tease.

 **b.**

Naruto knew that old fart of a pervert was crazy but he didn't ever imagine him throwing _him_ off a cliff! Just to summon a larger toad and use the Kyubi's chakra! If he didn't get the beast to agree soon, he'd kerr-splat and it'd be all over! So, forced into his mind apparently, he was amazed at what he was seeing. But it soon turned into disgust—his mind was a sewer! Was that his outlook on life? Wait, probably. But it was arguably getting better! Kind of. So, here he was, in front of the seal and looking into the darkness behind those silver bars. Did this flimsy thing really hold in such a terrifying monster in him? Well, they seemed sturdy enough. He kicked it a little just to be sure. Yep. Solid.

The blond peeked and looked around, wondering why he wasn't seeing the monster that took the life of many once upon a time. Was it scared? But that was silly! The Kyūbi is a mass of destruction! Why would it be scared? Naruto suddenly had the urge to puff up his chest. Maybe it realized how awesome and great he was and would submit to his awesomeness! "Hah, that has to be it. It's scared of me. Ha-ha-ha! That's what you are, Kyūbi! You're just afraid of me. Don't be shy, just admit it. I am pretty cool, after all!" His ego was surely taking an uphill dive after that statement.

If he'd paid attention, he'd have seen two grey eyes that flashed red momentarily appear in the blanket of darkness behind the bars. He'd also have seen when an arm launched out between them and grabbed a hold of his jacket's collar!

Naruto flailed like a fish and screamed like a koala! Wait, do those even scream? Do they even exist? What is a koala!? "Help! Oh gods help! Please Mr. Fox what time is it?! I mean, don't eat me! Let me go! I'm sorry!" The boy wailed and tried to get away. It's too bad the arm had an iron grip. He was going to die. Yes, he surely was today! He didn't even get to sign a will or anything! What was the point of proposing his love to Ramen if he'd never see it again!? Oh woe is him!

"Yo kid, calm the freak down! I ain't planning on eating you or whatever!" a deep man's voice that sounded completely normal and not booming like a monster's should sounded out. Naruto stopped his frantic not-getting-anywhere panicking flail, blinked and looked behind him.

"Huh?"

He saw the arm, the _human_ arm and hand gripping his jacket collar. Then, stepping forward dramatically as dramatic music suddenly played in the background was a man with long, purple-black hair, wearing all black, fair complexion and with grey eyes. The smirk on his face read everything but evil—it was the smirk that he knew all too well when he was about to prank someone. Eh?! Naruto knew his heart beat was racing—besides, where was that music coming from? He was sure there wasn't a music box in here.

"Calm down," the man said again, this time losing that mirth in his eyes and placing the boy down on the ground. The random dramatic background music was gone suddenly too. "If you keep that up, you'll probably die from a heart attack." The strange man paused and tapped his chin, "Well, that is if you don't fall to your death first."

That instantly turned Naruto's confusion into the panic again. "Oh no! That's right! Ero-sennin threw me off the cliff! If I don't summon something I'll probably die! He made me use up all my natural chakra so I'd use the fox's-" The rambling boy paused and turned towards the dark-garbed man. "Wait a second. Where's the Kyūbi?!"

The guy tilted his head. "The who?"

"The Kyūbi! You know. It should be a large, giant fox with nine tails." Naruto then had another thought before pointing a finger at him. "Wait a second, who are you and how did you get here?!"

Dark one, that'll be his new name now because Naruto didn't know it, raised a brow before something apparently clicked. "Oh, you mean that giant ass orange fox that was in here?" He completely ignored the second question. When Naruto nodded, he pointed to himself. "Well you're in luck kid. That happens to be me."

Silence.

Then crickets chirped.

Why were there crickets in here for that matter? Wasn't this his mindscape? Maybe he imagined crickets chirping?

There were no other words to be exchanged because Naruto was staring blankly in total bewilderment at the proclamation. He probably had drool dripping down from his face but that didn't matter. What. In. The. Heck? No one mentioned the Kyūbi had another form, let alone some human-like form! The man-Kyubi didn't seem so fazed by his abrupt silence and stuck out his hand to shake Naruto's with. "Whether you believe me or not, you're going to need my help getting out of your little problem. So, better make it quick before I change my mind." That smirk was back. Naruto blinked out of his stupor and sobered up quickly.

"What? Hey! Don't back out on me! If I die, then you die!" Naruto pointed out and snapping to. The dark-haired man simply shrugged but kept his hand out.

"I'm aware. So, as compensation for my free rent, how about some chakra? When I get free, I'll pay you back all the gald—er, ryo—for the rent."

Naruto looked at the hand suspiciously before taking it. "I guess. You have no choice anyway and neither do I. And there's no way you're getting out to cause mass chaos again! Even if you're the Kyūbi that looks like a person! You can't fool me!" The man shrugged indifferently again at that and tightened the handshake.

"I guess. One day I'll get out of here though." Apparently concentrating, a flood of red chakra flowed out from behind the seal's bars and into the water below them. Naruto saw the man's eyes flash from grey to red, the cat-like slit running through them. It made his smirk more menacing than it should be. As the chakra seeped through and covered him, the man released his grip. "Oh, by the way, kid?" Naruto could hear his voice as he was being pushed out of his mind. It sounded relaxed and mindful. Weird. "Don't fail." Well, of course he wasn't! It was a no-brainer he'd be successful!

 **c.**

Yuri had watched with moderate amusement as Naruto, his current host, summoned Gamabunta the Boss Toad, remained on said toad's head for the remainder of the day as a deal, and the old pervert take him back home after the chakra exhaustion. That kid was going to do great things. Like Flynn—they both had some sense of justice, and doing it in a way where the person can't be killed. That's where he and Naruto differed. Yuri had blood on his hands and this kid didn't. The dark-haired man would kill if it meant giving justice in his own way and he didn't care if it sent him back to jail. Injustice was everywhere, no matter where anyone went. Someone had to deal with it.

Like Karol, Yuri wouldn't dare force this kid to kill if he was against it. He made his own ninja code, a nindō, and would stick with it. Seeing as he wasn't going anywhere anytime, Yuri figured he could help the kid in his goal becoming Hokage. It was admirable, like how Flynn wanted to become the Commandant of the Knights. The higher up he was, the more he could change the system of the knights and make Zaphias essentially a better city. Especially for the Lower Quarter, where they were raised and orphaned. Flynn had reached that dream (with thanks of Alexei dying from the Adephagos being released from its seal) and while he hadn't started on his duties in making their combined dream to changing the Knights due to Duke's insane plans, Yuri was sure he'd get on that.

It still worried him that he was stuck here, most likely dead but in another realm or something, and his friends were someplace else. Duke must have killed him. There was no other explanation. Plus, with all the artes they were throwing out at each other—from normal strike artes to magic to burst to Mystic—it was no wonder. Maybe he died from the influx of all that mass of Aer. Then Duke stabbed him. Like that Sodia did. Maybe she was related to Duke. That's why she stabbed him, or viceversa. It was the only thing that could be explained anyway!

Yuri thought this seemed dream-like but it was too real to be one. So, as crazy as his theory sounded: 1) he was dead, 2) his spirit must have wandered outside his own realm because spirits can do whatever the hell they want, even becoming ghosts, 3) said spirit wandering led him to this plane of existence somehow and he overshadowed or took over one portion of Kurama and merged with it.

According to the memory transfer, it was the chakra part called Yang. All chakra had a yin and yang, a spiritual and physical aspect. Ninja could mold these together to use ninja techniques like the Summoning Technique Naruto used earlier. While the kid was currently asleep, Yuri had taken the time to scan through the new memories and list through the important stuff. It resulted in a crash course of chakra and it made his brain spin. Rita's explanations of Aer and blastia always made his brain _hurt_ so if it was _spinning_ , then he was pretty much okay. Yuri also figured that since there was no Aer here in this realm, he couldn't utilize it like before and use his artes. However, would they translate energies and make them weaker or stronger? He decided to test this out.

The dark-haired man didn't know how or why his sword was still with him but whatever! Maybe it was true that you die the way you look? No, was it you look the way you died last? It didn't matter anyway!

So the first arte he tried was the first one he ever mastered: Azure Edge. Filtering the chakra within and around him similar to how the Bodhi Blastia would, Yuri swung his sword and yelled out heroically, "Azure Edge!" He expected the aquamarine blue wave of energy to blast out. The blue wave did, but it seemed a little bigger than usual and created more of a wind-like essence in its trail before petering out. Oooh.

So, in the empty place he was in, he unleashed and performed all the artes he knew; from Shining Dragon Swarm to Azure Wolf Strike to even his Burst and Altered artes. The display looked akin to a fireworks show. Yuri thought there were actual ones going off. ' _Looks like I can still do everything even without my blastia,_ ' he thought, glancing briefly at the missing charm from his wrist. Minding out of those thoughts, he stood up fully from his Frigid Blast. ' _Let's move on._ ' He was gathering a mass amount of chakra for his next arte, his Mystic one to be specific. Getting near his limit burst in the form of molding chakra would take some time but he could pull it off fine.

"Holy shit that was awesome!"

Whoa what?

Yuri glanced over his right shoulder to see the kid, Naruto, standing outside the cage, staring at him with wide eyes. He was also in his pajamas, not that orange track suit, whatever it was he wore. Yuri smirked but then slightly frowned. Wasn't the twerp supposed to be asleep? But, he did look like he was impressed with his skills and techniques no doubt. That made Yuri puff up in pride; he wasn't much of a show off. Only during that time in Nordopolica though. Those were the best coliseum fights—anyway! ' _What's the squirt doing up anyway?_ ' The swordsman stopped preparing the chakra and stepped forward until he was much clearer to Naruto. After all, he did blend in with the darkness.

"What's up, kiddo? You're not sleep anymore."

The teenage blond blinked and stared up at Yuri with his blue eyes. "Wow—I mean, I was sleep at first. But then I heard some shouting! It was like 'Ghost Wolf!' and 'Destruction!' and 'Cerberus Strike!' Honestly, I couldn't sleep anymore with all that going on. So I woke up and tried to find the source. I realized after like half an hour wondering to myself that it wasn't my neighbors that it was coming from the _inside_ of my head! Then I decided to check it out and saw you doing all those techniques!" The boy said in all one go, grinning wide. Yuri was impressed; he didn't seem all that tired out from speaking in one whole go.

"Yeah, I'm pretty cool, huh?" Yuri said as he lowered his sword into its sheath and leaning against the bars. He noticed Naruto taking several steps away, probably out of precaution. The man rolled his eyes but couldn't blame the kid. He was still believing he was some evil creature after all. Wouldn't be too far from the truth—Yuri was seen as some monster for killing Ragou and Cumoire, looked upon differently. Of course, not by his friends, although Flynn was pretty pissed off. But, he eventually understood. People like them really _had_ to go. And not to the bathroom, either.

"You're still afraid of me, I get it," Yuri acknowledged, still leaning against the bars. "Honestly kid, if you knew the full story of me," ' _and by extension, the guy I accidentally took over,_ ' "You'd feel a bit differently about me." The man rubbed his chin with his right hand, the one that was currently in a half glove. "Anyway, you should be sleeping. Don't you have to meet that nasty pervert tomorrow for more training for your finals?" Just saying that 'f' word gave Yuri the chills. Anything that has to do with studying he instantly rejected.

"Well, yeah. You're the Kyūbi! No matter what form you take, you're still evil and can't be trusted!" Naruto pointed out, his expression changing slightly. "Your purpose is to give me chakra when I demand it. Since you're living in my body rent free." The kid placed his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes at him. Yuri, to his credit, didn't retort back like he normally would. He remembered this kid grew up being told the Kyūbi was evil and could cause mass destruction. And, like fairytales revolving around foxes, they could be sneaky and manipulative, at least, to that's what Yuri believed. Kurama might have not been like a typical fairytale fox. A mass chakra construct in the shape of one, though. To some extent, Yuri _could_ be both of those. However, he was mostly associated with a wolf majority of his life—seriously, most of his artes revolve around something wolf-related! Even his surname did!

Anyway, back to the main topic, how Naruto demanded of him seemed uncomfortably similar to how the Knights talked down to him as a child. In addition to the kid growing up knowing incorrect but legitimate information about his... other "half" he also remembered the kid grew up mostly alone his whole life. He'd cut the kid some slack—for now, at least. Kids like him, at least with a boisterous personality like so, were usually fun to tease. Now was time to engage the teasing factor.

"So, if I say I'll make some croquettes for you, you'd let me out?" He was obviously joking and trolling. Whatever the latter meant anyway! Granted in its truest form, Naruto was baffled.

"What? I don't want any crok-um-ketts made from you! They probably will look or taste weird!" The blond shouted, crossing his arms. "Anything you say or do is probably an excuse to make me let you go, but there's no way in hell I'd do that! Got it?" Man, this kid was making this too easy.

"Sure you don't want to try any croquettes? I make a mean dish! My special, secret ingredient makes it taste all the better! The way I make them will make your mouth water. Its flavors are just that delicious!" Yuri lifted his hands in the air for dramatic effect. Naruto frowned and eyed him warily. "You'll wish for more when you take a bite out of one!" He seemed to be drawing the kid in because his skeptical expression slowly shifted. Yuri's smile widened as he leaned his head forward until his nose was poking out from between the bars. "I'll even tell you my secret ingredient." Somehow, a croquette was made on a plate in Yuri's hands and he ushered it to the boy.

He warily took it, before sniffing it. It smelled good. Naruto took a bite and was instantly all over it. Wow! This did taste great! And there was a secret ingredient to it, huh? Secrets were fun to keep. Forgetting that he was a (possible) mass of destruction, Naruto leaned in himself, his left ear out mostly and enlarging comically to listen in.

"What is it?" He whispered. If he knew the ingredients plus the secret one, he could possibly make some and give it to Sakura-chan!

"Sure you wanna know?"

Naruto bobbed his head up and down excitedly as he finished the dish. "Tell me!"

Yuri grinned. "Love."

The entire mindscape being silent again just like earlier. Neither one of the males were breathing. Yuri's grin widened; it seemed to get in between deviousness and genuine glee. Naruto, on the other hand, was paling at the fact of knowing this secret ingredient's name. Soon, his face twisted into a cringe before morphing into slight distaste. Not that it was a bad thing but... Really!? _Love_ , of all things?! For the boy who knew nothing about it, it was a sour subject.

"Seriously?" Naruto asked, his distaste morphing into very slight wonder. If love tasted like that, then it was _good_.

"Oh _absolutely_ ," Yuri replied. He was totally lying through his teeth but not like Naruto would know, right?

"That's awesome! I gotta learn how to make those!"

"Great. While you do that, go off to dreamland. You're going to need your energy." Yuri said, slightly ushering the blond away from the cage. Naruto realized just how close he was to the "Kyūbi" again and immediately backed up. The dark-haired man just laughed lightly before stepping away and heading back into the darkness. "Anyway," he lifted his sheathed sword over his shoulders and saluted to Naruto, "I'll see you later, kid." Before Naruto could say anything else, Yuri disappeared, out of sight and out of mind, ironically.

The blue-eyed boy stared again in the man's direction, blinking curiously. The Nine-Tails touched him again. But, it wasn't in a threatening kind of way at all. Earlier today, when they shook hands, he seemed pretty compliant to the request/demand, even saying so before he mentioned it. That had been the reason he was forced into his mind anyway; he was out of conventional chakra and Ero-sennin wanted him to use his _other_ chakra. To consciously use the Kyūbi's chakra. It had worked of course, and he summoned Gamabunta.

But that touch. The Kyūbi seemed more human than monster then and now. Was this all a trick for him to trust it? Then, when he lets his guard down, it'll take him over like King Kong in his forest? It seemed practical of a manipulative creature like the Nine-Tails. But it didn't feel like an evil entity like he and others were told about. He'd have to be careful with this. There was no telling what the beast was thinking and still assuming that form. For now, he'd watch it and be cautious around it. With those thoughts, Naruto turned to leave his mindscape and to go back to sleep.

...However, those techniques the Kyūbi pulled off earlier look pretty neat. Was it possible he could do those, too? Hm... Should he ask next time? Maybe. Some of those looked like they could fit into his brawling style. If it could be called that. When he was back in the waking world, his eyes shot open and he waited for them to adjust to the darkness of his surroundings. He lied in bed and stared at the ceiling of his apartment.

' _Guess I'll be paying the Nine-Tails another visit soon. Maybe he'll teach me those? I'd want to be able to one-up that Neji in the fight._ ' He thought, ' _I should ask Ero-sennin about it. He seems to know a lot, and could help me with that._ _Just gotta be careful when dealing the with Kyūbi, then._ ' Naruto closed his eyes, sighed and fell back asleep. Tomorrow's training would no doubt be complicated, but now he had a set task.

Yuri, within the mindscape, sat down in the center of the not-as-wet-as-it-looks floor and smiled. ' _You want to learn, kid. You'll have to earn it._ ' He earned everything else so far, so why not? But, training someone who was interested in his techniques? The Brave Vesperia guildsman felt a little elated at that. He impressed another kid like Karol and they wanted to learn from him. He must be a real kid magnet these days. Lying down, Yuri closed his eyes too and went to sleep himself. Exerting all that chakra was taxing after all.

' _This place could use a huge makeover though. I'm starting to get tired of looking at sewer water and this dreariness._ ' Was Yuri's last conscious thought before drifting off into La La Land.


End file.
